The present invention relates broadly to an apparatus for automatically cutting and emptying the contents of a bag and in particular to an industrial bag breaking and emptying apparatus wherein bags containing granular or powdered type products are opened and emptied within a contained environment.
Granular or powdered type products which are packaged in plastic or paper bags are utilized in many industrial applications. Significant quantities of such products may be utilized on a daily and hourly basis. It may therefore be necessary to open many such bags during the industrial work day. In some applications, the contents of the bags may have a detrimental effect on individuals exposed thereto.
It is desirable, therefore, to have an apparatus which will automatically open and empty such a bag and maintain an environment substantially free of dust or other potential harmful contents of the bag. Prior apparatus has been developed to meet these general requirements. These prior apparatus generally include an enclosed housing in which the bags are cut and the product therein emptied. Some means is typically provided for conveying the bag through the housing and ejecting the cut bag from the housing. The bagged material is collected within the housing and disposed of by convenient means. The apparatus may be provided with a filter to collect the dust generated by the cutting and emptying operating.
The present invention is an improved bag opening and emptying apparatus that postively engages the bags along opposite lateral edges of the bags throughout the entire cutting and emptying operation while the bags are conveyed through the apparatus lying generally horizontally. The positive engagement mechanism can be adjusted such that the bag is engaged as close as possible to the lateral edges to ensure a more complete emptying of the bag contents. In the apparatus of the present invention material waste is substantially eliminated and the possibility of bag contents becoming collected on the conveyor is significantly reduced. The bags are, as previously mentioned, positively engaged by the conveyor mechanism throughout the cutting and emptying steps and then positively engaged to eject the bags from the apparatus. The present invention thereby maximizes the material usage by substantially eliminating loss through more efficient dumping of bag contents and minimizing operator maintenance and machine downtime by eliminating problems of jamming due to bag contents becoming lodged within the conveyor mechanism. Additionally, in the present invention the adjustable positive engagement means facilitates use of the apparatus with various size bags.